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=> Adelita...Jan, 2004

Adelita...Jan, 2004

Posted by parhad (Guest) - Tuesday, January 27 2004, 11:24:06 (EST) from 148.233.135.73 - inet-gto-aztecas-1-fddi5-0-0.uninet.net.mx Mexico - Windows 98 - Internet Explorer Website: Website title:

We decided that until we were able to get a lease worked out with Adelita's brother, who lives in the States, we should go ahead and at the least build a bathroom so the family isn't squatting over a hole in the ground and bathing in a tub outdoors. But before anything else we had to deal with a man problem. It seems Adelita has had Manuel, the felow she introduced me to as a handyman around the pueblo, livng with her for over a year. This was something she neglected to mention to my lawyer or any of us till last week and then only because we sort of had to ask. Of course she can do as she pleases but being a man myself I know what assholes we can be when it comes to things that impinge on ths same man-ness. So far we'd been dealing only with Adeita but sooner or later we'd be bound to run into Manuel's need to be the man of the house. In any case about a week ago we went out to the pueblo on a Sunday to find out from Manuel just what the costs would be for buildng a bathroom. He'd offered that as he lived there and would benefit from the bathroom, he wouldn't expect to be paid, which was decent of him. This also happened to be the day of their big fiesta held in honor of the Virgin of La Luz...their patron saint who hasn't done a whole hell of a lot for them but let it go. As we bumped over the main street and just before making the turn down the road that would take us to Adelita's home overlooking the river, we saw a procession of mounted men prancing their horses in our direction preceded by a blaring band that seemed all brass and bang. I pulled the Bourbon off the road to a clearing by the church to watch them go by. Someone was running alongside firing bottle rockets into the air whose explosions were pretty loud for a virgin. As the about fifty men on horseback went by, all in their very best clothes for this special day, I noticed Fernando, Adelita's now eldest astride a lively chestnut...fancy saddle and all. He didn't have boots on like the rest of the men or a hat...but he had white silk shirt and sat tall in the saddle, the youngest one there and proud of it too. He waved a slight wave as they went by and just then a bottle rocket blew up a little too close to the horses and several of them stood on their heads and other horsey things...but Fernando managed his horse well and stayed calm. Several horses started prancing sideways and one even seemed to be prancing backward, but soon the men had them all calmed down and the parade went on, down the road that would take them to the community soccer field and a huge expanse of flat empty land at the foot of the cliffs bordering Adelita's home. She would have a front row seat from her yard only she was sure to come down and join. We left the Bourbon and followed after the men to an arena or corral put together just for the fiesta. There was a side pen with a gate openning into the main arena where several bulls of varying sizes were nervously pacing and snorthing. The gate to the arena was openned by none other than Adelita's man Manuel who was wearing a black shirt with loud red roses on it, black jeans, black hat and black boots. He was rather dashing with his slim waist and long legs...his long mustachios and was several sheets to the wind already by noon. He wasn't roaring drunk...yet, but they knew what they were doing when they gave him a gate to lean on for it was his job to let the horsemen in and out. He did his office and the long train of mounted cowboys rode into the arena single file while the villagers all gathered round the outside rails. They rode around until they formed a semi-circle and stopped facing a raised stage where a band was tuning it's instruments...a rather young sort of band, not exactly Mariachis either. One gentleman was obviously the master of ceremonies for his horse was the fanciest and so was he. This fellow rode up to the stage and was handed a microphone through which he greeted the crowd, explained the rules and asked everyone to behave and have a good time. A small statue of the Virgin was brought out and the band let out a sustained shriek after which plastic cups were passed round to the riders and a dark liquid, probably firewater was poured round, except for Fernando who got Coke. When the men were ready a toast was proposed and amid all the noises of bedlam the men drank down whatever it was. Afer that they all rode solemnly out of the corral through the gate that was holding up Manuel...who swung shut with it when the last rider got out. The MC asked the riders to be careful...not to get carried away and the band blew another blast from kingdom come. Four riders were allowed into the arena, over Manuel who wasn't payng particular attention except to look starled everytime the gate moved... and he swung it shut again. Now a the gate to the bull pen was openned and one huge brute was chased into the ring. The idea was to re-enact the old roping days of yore. One rider played out his lariat and sent it flying round the neck of the bull. He held the bull there at some distance while the other three ran around its hind legs throwing their lariats at it's legs and trying to get it to move into the noose, they then pulled tight, so the bull was caught at both ends. When they finally succeeded and I have the feeling it got harder as the day wore on...the other two would dismount and sort of throw the bull down and roll it over and pass other ropes round its belly and then they'd all just stand there waiting to be admired. I suppose in the old days the'd next either brand the bull...cut his balls off or slit his throat...a sort of Jewish revival. I turned away at that point...I don't mind running over an American but I hate to see animals abused for pleasure. We went over to where Fernando was standing his horse alongside the men and found out his mother and the rest were back at the house getting dressed up so we walked along the foot of the cliffs on a trail to where her house was. She came out to greet us and we chatted a while while the family put on its fiishing touches and then went on together back to the fiesta. Our plan was to try to find out just what sort of relationship she had with Manuel. Did he work...when he worked did he help out with expenses etc. I felt we sort of needed to butt into their lives because of the dismal experience she'd had with men already, starting with god. I hated doing it...felt like all those social workers I couldn't stand with their "routine questions"...I didn't care if she had one man or or a string of them...that was none of my business. What I didn't want happening was Manuel seeing a good thing and joining up with the family because of it...and then later throwing her out or in some other way taking advantage of her...even though she's a grown woman and it really is none of my business. Life can be messy like that...my priorities were to see that her family had a slightly improved situation and with that in mind I felt we had to ask around a little...especially as she'd never mentioned Manuel as a part of her rapidly growing family. The eldest daughter, taller than the rest of them and rather attracive claimed her husband was there in the crowd but it was odd that he never materialized while we were there, standing around the arena with the bull show, talking. Something else was annoying me and that was the idea that her husband had already left and perhaps Manuel, who is noticeably younger than Adelita, was really after the daughter but thought to have a mother into the bargain. They looked far more like a pair than he and Adelita did. I left them all conferring with my pal, who is Mexican, and went to watch the waiting bulls snorting and such when I noticed Manuel leaning against the rails near his gate, his eyes swimming, calling over to me. I'd ignored him before when I was standing with the family and he'd been trying to get my attention since, then Adelita's, before giving up and holding on with both hands. I went up to him and he said something to me that was so slurred I couldn't have understood it in English...I said one of my stock phrases in Spanish...I have a lot of them, which usually go something like...."yes, that IS true isn't it?". I turned away and soon after we left. Later I had the feeling that there would be trouble that night...there almost always is anyway after a day of drinking and fondling bulls. I imagine a lot of village women dread these fiestas for what they have to endure later. It turns out that Adelita's first husband, the one who sired her children and threw them all out of her house so he and his new girl friend could live there, is from the same village and was there that day. I didn't see him. There are no police in these pueblos and I imagine things can get sort of volatile at times. We left Adelita with instructions to call us the next evening and tell us the material costs for the bathroom, which Manuel had worked up. She didn't call and didn't call the next two nights. I have a feeling we've offended Manuel's sense of manliness and I sympathize. We were told that none of the men of the village have work now. They farm most of the time but that's just to eat, the rest of the time they look for construcion work or any work wherever they can find it. For Manuel to have this gringo step up and offer to do what he can't...simply because of conditions Manuel has little control over is hard, I'm sure. And then there's the fact that we deal only with Adelita, that no one takes Manuel aside and asks him what he thinks ought to be done. I sympathize..but my concern and my time was never meant to be put to use stroking Manuel and watching out for his feelings. But, there he is, a potential obstacle and more. We could get him so pissed off that he acts worse towards Adelita than he would had we never come along. And yet it seemed cleaner dealing with Adeilta herself instead of watching her take a back seat as she's done. Another idea we held out to them if they wanted was to move to another town...a real toen nearby, though still a small one. Adelita was all for the idea so was her elder daughter...the middle one stated flat out that she didn't want to work or get an education. We had the feeling there would be more opportunities for all of them in a bigger town and they seemed to agree. there would be additional schooling not available in the village and there would be work for them all...even a pushcart sort of enterprise like many a family supports itself with. All of this would have to wait till summer when the boys finished school in the village, but it was something we could all begin to plan for and think about. It would cost to build a house and set something up in the village but its success would depend on people who didn't have money to spend most of the time. If we paid the rent on a house in the town and furnished it and such and were able to set Adelita up in a small enterprise, they might be self-sufficient faster and also have a stab at meanigfully changing the course of their lives, openning up the horizon slightly more than was the case now...and there'd still be the land and house back in the village if the need arose. But all of this is waiting now to see if Adelita will contact us again...or not. I figure we'll wait another week and make one last visit. If we can get Adelita to come to town here and meet with us at my lawyer's office it would be best...but Manuel looms large in anything that's gong to happen. Quien sabe. --------------------- - BACK TO INDEX - REPLY - QUOTE - EDIT - DELETE -

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